Description

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“Distressingly smart, wickedly sly, and side-clutchingly hilarious.”
—Vanessa Chan, author of The Storm We Made

“If you want a book that perfectly evokes millennial sexual politics under late-stage capitalism, and in which all of us—gay, straight, cis, and trans alike—are read for absolute filth, then look no further than Trust and Safety.”
—Rafael Frumkin, author of Confidence and Bugsy

A wry yet tenderhearted novel about a couple who attempt to buy their way into a “wild and precious” existence in the Hudson Valley, where they quickly become entangled with a queer couple living the dream analog life

Newlywed Rosie has grown disenchanted with NYC. Inspired by Instagram ads, she starts thirsting for a rural life upstate—one full of beauty and authenticity. She just needs to convince her tech-bro husband, Jordan, of her vision for the future. Willing to do anything for Rosie’s happiness, Jordan signs on, and they offer—well above asking price—on a beautiful, historic fixer-upper in the Hudson Valley.
 
But when Jordan suddenly loses his job, the couple is forced to rent out the property’s dilapidated outbuilding. There’s no heat, it’s overrun with mold, and nothing works. 

Enter Dylan and Lark: an incredibly attractive and handy queer couple who offer to rent the outbuilding and help Rosie and Jordan with repairs. They also happen to be living the life Rosie had envisioned for herself: hand-built furniture, herbal tinctures, guinea hens, and hand-dyed linens. Rosie grows increasingly infatuated with their new tenants, especially with model-esque, charismatic Dylan—to Jordan’s increasing distress.
 
Whip-smart and wickedly funny, Trust and Safety examines questions of authenticity, betrayal, belonging, and entitlement, while poking fun at contemporary fear of the “gay agenda.”

About the Author

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Laura Blackett is a writer. Eve Gleichman has published work in The Kenyon Review, Harvard Review, BOMB magazine, and elsewhere. Eve is a graduate of Brooklyn College's MFA fiction program. Laura and Eve's debut novel, The Very Nice Box, was a New York Times Editors' Choice and an Apple Book of the Month.

Praise For…

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One of Electric Lit's "42 Queer Books You Need to Read in 2024'

“Clever . . . Blackett and Gleichman expertly build suspense following a bombshell revelation . . . This intrigues and unsettles in equal measure.” —Publishers Weekly

“Blackett and Gleichman skillfully capture the way a single look from the right person can make you embarrassed about every choice you’ve ever made. A fast, fun read that invites you to change your life (or at least quit Instagram).” —Kirkus

“Sexy, surprising, witty and beautifully written—Trust and Safety is a complete delight from start to finish.” —Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of The Spare Room and We Were Never Here

"Blackett and Gleichman have written a laugh-out-loud novel as delightfully heterogeneous in genre as the queer community is in gender presentation. What starts out as a wry Noël Coward plot for the digital age swiftly escalates to heights of such passion, longing, and remorse that I felt like I was reading the version of Pride and Prejudice we all want—namely, where Darcy is a woodsy, stick shift-driving butch. If you want a book that perfectly evokes millennial sexual politics under late-stage capitalism, and in which all of us—gay, straight, cis, and trans alike—are read for absolute filth, then look no further than Trust and Safety." —Rafael Frumkin, author of Confidence and Bugsy

“What happens when we try to live the life that Instagram is selling us? This is the question that Trust and Safety hilariously—and poignantly—asks. In answering it, Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman spare no one, taking aim at everyone from tech bros to overbearing mothers. It’s a smart, funny, and timely exploration of what happens when our obsessions get the better of us, and when we discover that authenticity is not as authentic as it seems.”—Grant Ginder, author of The People We Hate at the Wedding

“Trust and Safety is distressingly smart, wickedly sly, and side-clutchingly hilarious—I was howling! I simply could not turn away. Blackett and Gleichman achieve the best kind of storytelling: the type that forces you to contend with their characters' choices, then holds up a mirror so you're implicated in their foibles and bad decision-making—all while demanding that you turn the page because you simply must know how it ends. What a brilliantly observed and witty take on the sometimes absurd ways we choose to live. And how blessedly and wonderfully gay.” —Vanessa Chan, author of The Storm We Made

“Irresistibly hilarious and weird, sexy and surprising, and gently profound, Trust & Safety delighted me at every turn and delivered razor-sharp insights into our contemporary search for authenticity, beauty, and the perfect vintage doorknob.”—Jenny Fran Davis, author of Dykette

“Sharp, hilarious, and thought-provoking, Trust & Safety is about the aspirations, absurdities, and longings of contemporary life—a story that will make you question your own life choices when you're not lingering over each pitch-perfect line or racing to find out what happens next.” —Jane Pek, author of The Verifiers